Two weeks ago when Porsche unveiled the Vision 920 alongside a slew of other previously unknown concepts to push a book that I’m sure will make a lovely holiday gift, eagle-eyed Gran Turismo fans noticed something curious: a GT logo hiding just behind the top of the car’s canopy.
Many took the logo’s presence to signify that the Vision 920 was actually Porsche’s long-awaited Vision Gran Turismo submission. Vision GT, for those unaware, is an initiative by Gran Turismo developer Polyphony Digital to recruit manufacturers to design exclusive vehicles for its games. The project has been fruitful, producing 31 cars since its inception in 2013.
As it turns out, the Vision 920 actually isn’t Porsche’s Vision GT candidate, though it was intended to be at one time. The German automaker revealed the concept’s original purpose, as well as its future Vision GT plans, to GTPlanet:
The Porsche 920 Vision was developed during the brainstorming phase for the Vision Gran Turismo partnership between Polyphony Digital and Porsche. However, for our eventual contribution to the Vision Gran Turismo program, a different design approach has been chosen and we’re looking forward to revealing that next year.
At the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, Polyphony Digital and Porsche announced a partnership that was supposed to result in a Porsche-branded Vision GT making its way to Gran Turismo Sport before the end of 2020. It’s clear now that won’t happen. The press release from Frankfurt also mentioned that the 917 Living Legend design study would come to GT Sport in the first half of 2020. That, too, never came to pass.
It’s unclear why Porsche pulled the plug on the 920 for Gran Turismo. The car certainly looks like it belongs alongside other Vision GT cars, with its homologation-special prototype vibe that’s futuristic yet still believable.
Polyphony’s original request to manufacturers at the beginning of the Vision GT journey was to get their “rendition of the ideal grand tourer,” though most of the vehicles that followed certainly couldn’t be described as grand tourers in the traditional sense. One of them is a Mini Clubman, for example, while another is a Chapparal-branded spacecraft on wheels powered by lasers that you drive lying down. The consistency ship sailed about seven years ago, so Porsche can do literally whatever it pleases here.
While the Vision 920 presumably won’t appear in Gran Turismo (at least, not right away), it was still designed for the game, which is neat. I for one feel happy to have seen it, even if I can’t virtually drive it. And if you still haven’t had your fill of Porsche concepts after this busy November, today’s news means we’re guaranteed at least one other new Porsche concept next year. You’ll probably get to drive it in Gran Turismo 7, whenever that happens.
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